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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

I never did until my friend Astrid decided to organize a swap. An Index Card A Day is very similar to an ATC but the dimensions are different. You can read more about it at Astrid's original post. Anyway, I agreed to create ICAD's and holders for (2) ladies and in return, Astrid arranged for me to receive from (2) different ladies.

Dylusions sprays create the background of the ICADs. Using Decou-Page I added a layer of crumpled up tissue paper to create a textured background. The sentiment was stamped on top of the tissue layer. The Julie Nutting Doll Stamps were colored with Distress Inks before being cut out and adhered to the card, then the entire ICAD was coated with Decou-Page.

This is just one of the swaps. The second one I created in the same style, but in a different color scheme and slightly different stamps. I have never participated in a swap like this before but I am happy with the swaps and holders I designed.

Now I told you I would be receiving ICADs and are they spectacular! I got this in the mail from Jenny and I love everything about it!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Today I want to share another scrapbook page from our vacation using the Puerto Rico collection from Paper House. This was the day we hiked to La Mina Falls...and it was a hot hike...and when we reached the end, the water was surprisingly cold and really refreshing!

I always like to include multiple pictures on my layouts, so I tend not to scrap with full 4x6 photos. And yes, those are pictures of me in a bathing suit so I was happy to make those *small*! I think the placement of these photos still allowed the background paper to show through and create the atmosphere.

In my previous post, I told you about Coqui. I used him here in the title area, along with a hibiscus flower and some extra greenery.

This hike was through El Yunque National Forest and followed the La Mina River. The plant growth was phenomenal...ferns everywhere...so I reached for my Spellbinders dies and 2 different shades of cardstock to add foliage to the layout.

The "Outdoor Adventure" sign sticker came from a different cardstock sticker set, but I thought it was very appropriate for this layout.

I couldn't help hiding a few more colorful frog stickers amongst the vines just for fun!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find some time to play today! Susie

Monday, September 9, 2013

My husband and I visited Puerto Rico about 3 years ago and had a fabulous time! We were just getting ready for the school year to start and my oldest was a senior in high school, so I had other priorities than getting pictures from that vacation into a scrapbook. Quite frankly, I hadn't really thought about them until I saw this *NEW* collection from Paper House:

The images on the paper and stickers brought back such happy memories I had to pull out the pictures.

I have to say for this particular layout, I pulled out ALL the pictures!!! It is my "taste of Puerto Rico" page and includes pictures from most of our adventures!

I like to use several photos on each page and the challenge here was not to cover up the beautiful image on the paper itself. My solution was to create a collage of photos on the top half of the page. One of the ways I create visual interest in my layouts is to vary the size of the pictures. I used PhotoShop to re-size my pictures and printed them out. The largest is about 4.75 "x 3" and the smallest is only 2" x 1.25".

I played around with placement of the photos until I has happy with the flow, and then I started to add embellishments! The bottle of rum, palm tree and the Puerto Rican flag are all from the collection. I felt like I needed a rum drink to properly accent our visit to the Bacardi factory, so I pulled that sticker from the Cruise 2 cardstock stickers. "Destination" is a Fancy Chipboard Word from Want2Scrap and I layered it on top of a tag. Perfect!

We visited the Bacardi factory and made a trip to Vieques Island for a Biolumenescent Bay tour.

I should mention that I added foam pop dots behind all of the cardstock stickers because I just love dimension!

We walked all around El Morro and Old San Juan, enjoyed a zipline tour in the rainforest, and hiked to La Mina Falls.

I also added dimension by using a craft knife to fussy cut around the image on the paper and slipping a photo behind it.

There is an excellent title element in the cardstock stickers! All I added were palm leaves die cut from cardstock, foam pop dots and a 3D hibiscus flower. Super easy!

Oh! I almost forgot! There is an unofficial mascot in Puerto Rico, the Coqui. It is a tiny tree frog with a big voice that sings after the sun goes down. There is actually a cardstock sticker of a Coqui in the collection, but I used that on a different layout which you will see later this month. So to pay homage to the little Coqui, and to include that memory on this page, I added a little frog sticker on one of the palm leaves. Can you see him?

Creating this page brought back so many great memories that my husband and I are thinking about another trip! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find some time to play today! Susie

Monday, September 2, 2013

One of my favorite things about scrapbooking is being to make meaningful gifts for the special people in your life. I created this layout for my niece and her husband...and my darling great-niece Kinsey! The Daddy's Little Girl 3D sticker set from Paper House Productions made creating this layout super easy!

The green base paper with butterflies is from Kaisercraft. I cut the decorative pink mat from designer paper using a Spellbinders' die. All those wonderful dimensional sticker embellishments are from Paper House and provided the perfect accent for the photos!

I have to confess...I sometimes embellish my embellishments! In this case I added three pearls from Want2Scrap to the cute little "cuddle bug":

It was my way of connecting it to the row of Sleek Strip Pearls I adhered underneath the border strip:

Since it is a gift, I am leaving the journaling tag blank so my niece can add her own special memories!